Bristol, Tenn. (March 24, 2003) – Ron Hornaday and the ACDelco Chevrolet team did everything right for 240 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday.  But a crash with Kasey Kahne with just 10 laps to go ended the chance of a top-five finish.

With 130,000 fans packing the grandstands at “the world’s fastest half-mile,” Hornaday was

excited about the chances of victory.  The No. 2 ACDelco Monte Carlo was the fastest car in happy hour practice.  However, he started the race from the middle of the pack in 17^th, as a loose condition in qualifying hurt his lap times.  Patience was the key for Hornaday, as the race would be slowed several times for caution.

After a very patriotic pre-race, the NASCAR Busch Series took the green flag and Hornaday wasted little time in passing several cars.  On lap three, Chris Bingham spun his No. 49 machine in turn one bringing out the first yellow of the afternoon.  Hornaday was already in 12^th.  On the restart, Hornaday once again made a charge for the front.  He passed the No. 5 of Brian Vickers for 11^th, before the yellow flag flew for the second time.

The first big wreck of the day happened on lap 28.  Mike Wallace, Coy Gibbs and Regan Smith tangled in turn two.  All three cars had heavy damage and never were a factor for the win.  Hornaday told his crew chief Rick Viers that the car was a little snug, but that he wasn’t pushing the car very hard during the early stages.  He was in the top-10 in just 28 laps.

For the next fifty laps it was all stop and go driving.  The longest green flag run during that time- 21 laps between lap 65 and lap 86, as three caution slowed the race.  On lap 87, Hornaday made his first pit stop of the day.  The car was still tight off the corners and the ACDelco crew went to work to fix the problem.  The crew made an air pressure adjustment to the left front and right rear and sent the No. 2 back out with four fresh tires in just 14.50 seconds.  He was 10^th.

The race went back to green on lap 91, and Hornaday started picking off positions.  By lap 94, he was ninth.  Lap 95- eighth.  Lap 96- seventh.  It was obvious the Hornaday had a fast car.  He continued to pass cars by diving under Ashton Lewis in turn three to take over the sixth position on lap 103.  “I’m still a little snug in the middle and just a tick loose off, but once the pressures come up, I think we’ll be fine,” said Hornaday during caution on lap 108.  On the restart, Hornaday passed Jason Keller and moved into the top-five for the first time.

On lap 130, Hornaday’s race almost came to an end, as Hermie Sadler spun right in front of the ACDelco Chevy.  Hornaday backed off and made his way around the wreck.  He was now in fourth and was chasing down the front three of Scott Wimmer, Kevin Harvick and Jimmy Spencer.  For the next 20 laps, the top five remained the same, except that Harvick took over the lead.  Hornaday was fading back as the car kept getting tighter and tighter.  On lap 175, Hornaday slid up the track and was passed by Scott Riggs, Tony Raines and Keller.  The ACDelco car was 6^th, but fading fast.  They needed a caution and on lap 185, they got one.

While racing for fifth, Riggs and Wimmer split a lapped car and made it three wide going into turn three.  Riggs dove onto the apron of the track and then shot up into the side of Wimmer, crashing both cars.  Hornaday came down pit road and took on four more tires and made a track bar adjustment to help the car from the center of the corner and off.  “We lost some track position Ron, but we needed to fix it.  You should roll better, so just be patient,” said Viers.  Hornaday was 10^th, but had 100 lap fresher tires than the rest of the field.

With just 50 laps to go, Hornaday made his march to the front.  But it wasn’t the “blow by them” march the team had expected.  The car was now even tighter than before and Hornaday was struggling to get it to turn off the corner.  He passed a struggling Mike Wallace for ninth and then caught and passed Randy LaJoie for eighth.  But Hornaday was now 3 seconds behind the leader Harvick.

On lap 220, the ACDelco Chevrolet got by the No. 92 of Todd Bodine and took over seventh.  With 25 laps to go, he was the fastest car on the track and he was closing on Kahne and Mike Bliss.  Twenty laps later the journey to the front would end.  On lap 240, Hornaday had closed to within a car length of Kahne.  As the two cars exited turn four, Kahne got loose and checked up.  He then over corrected and nosed the car into the wall at the start finish line.  Hornaday, with no where to go, got into the back of Kahne’s machine and tore the right front fender off the car.  The two cars then spun down the banking.  NASCAR red flagged the event in order to have it finish under green.  Hornaday’s car sat in turn two with a demolished front end.  But despite the bad luck, there was some good news.  The car was still under power and would roll fairly straight.  There was also no damage to the radiator.  Hornaday would take the checkered flag on the lead lap in 12^th.

The race for the win was close, but Kevin Harvick was able to hold off Tony Raines and capture his second Bristol victory.  As a team mate to Hornaday, it was a good win for Richard Childress Racing.  But for the ACDelco team, it was bittersweet. The No. 2 car took a hit in points as well, falling to sixth- 99 points out of first. 

Hornaday and the ACDelco crew joined Harvick in victory lane and celebrated the team’s win.  Although there was nothing Hornaday could have done to avoid the crash, the driver of the No. 2 ACDelco Chevrolet left Bristol frustrated and disappointed. But then again, that’s Bristol.  You either leave there happy or upset…there is no in-between.